Hello! I have a few requests/notes on feedback for Shopify as an excellent digital goods selling platform.
As a platform, Shopify should consider adding more digital seller-friendly options, settings, and features to enhance the seller and buyer experience. The current seller options’ limitations and restrictions decrease conversion and overall customer satisfaction for those looking only to purchase digital goods.
For example, I believe that the following features should be changed or adjusted to better suit sellers who do not sell physical goods:
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Digital downloads being locked to apps rather than being built into Shopify.
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The requirement for customers to provide personal information when obtaining free digital products.
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The requirement for customers to provide a billing address and name collection.
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The requirement for sellers to attach locations and warehouses to products for shipping or stock, even if it is marked as a digital product.
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The limitation of downloads being accessible only through emails rather than customer accounts/sign-ups.
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(Shopify Digital Downloads app) Restriction to only one downloadable item per product/variant.
There are more restrictions than listed above, but I’ve noticed the above issues have been noted by both my client base and other sellers in the community.
Understandably, a majority of Shopify’s user base sells physical goods. However, there is a large number of sellers who only sell digital goods, myself included. Other sites, like Gumroad, Payhip, Etsy, etc., have given sellers more options and leniency to enhance the digital selling experience. Shopify seems to need to be faster at making adjustments or features that benefit digital sellers.
Note: Although there are apps that make selling and buying digital goods simpler, a lot of limitations come directly from Shopify’s business models and tools. I want this post to be acknowledged and to express my feedback, as this significantly affects my business. Shopify is my first choice for a store, but these limitations make other e-commerce sites more attractive for digital sellers. Additionally, I would like for there to be more focus or communication for a better selling/purchasing environment for digital sellers, considering that this is a paid e-commerce site.
Thank you for reading my post!